An issue is any negative unexpected consequence of a business practice, behavior or action. Many business processes are frequently plagued by issues, which often result in personal injury, damage to product and equipment, high costs, schedule impacts and harm to reputation and credibility. State-of-the-art issue resolution often involves an investigation into direct and root causality, often designated as Root Cause and Corrective Action (“RCCA”). By definition, RCCA is reactive, i.e., something has to go awry before action is taken. By the time RCCA is invoked, the damage has been done and costs have been incurred. Undesirably, such reactive processes are inaccurate and highly effort consuming. In order to reduce the impact of such reactive approaches, the number of unexpected events needs to be reduced.
Business value-added activities are driven by processes. All processes are designed to generate at least one deliverable or output (e.g., a tactile product, maintenance process, etc.), which is directed to a customer or customers. To create the deliverable, the process requires inputs such as energy, raw materials, labor, information, etc. These inputs are provided by suppliers. As is known in the art, the symbiotic Supplier-Input-Process-Output-Customer (“SIPOC”) relationship is illustrated in FIG. 21.
All issues occur either within the process or at its essential periphery. For example, issues may impact the customers, the output deliverables, the process, its inputs or the input suppliers. Data indicates that issues are merely a manifestation of risk, which is present in the process and its periphery for some time before the issue appears. Therefore, if the risk is identified and dispositioned appropriately, the issue, and its collateral damage, will have been prevented.
Accordingly, those skilled in the art continue with research and development efforts in the field of risk analysis and management.